Loading machine



March 19, 19529.

N.v A. NEwDlcK LOADING .MACHINE Filed Aug. 11, 1924 34 Sheets-Shet l L March 19, 1929. N, A, NEwDlCK 1,706,313y

'LOADING MACHINE Filed Aug. 11, 1924 5 sheets-sheet 2 Y Filed Aug. 11, 1924 5 sheets-sneer 3 Patented Mar., i9, 1929.,

man3

'untreu STATES l RATE-Nr orifice.

NORTON A. NEWDICK, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

, LOADING MACHINE.

Application nled- August 11, 1924. Serial No. I7231,294.

'lh1s.1nvent1on relates to an improved for this service which will possessl alarge capacity for handling the coal rapidly and economically; so designed as to handle the coal in the condition in which it falls on the mine floor following the 'operation` ol?l blasting or shooting the coal, from its original solid state, and further constructed so that its various elements will be readily controllable and the machine manipulated to gather the coal to the best advantage lrrespective of the physical linntations whlch exist in the winding passagesand sharp turns of an underground coal mine.

@ne of the foremost objects of theY inven' tion resides in the provision of improved gathering /ineans for transferring thev coal from the door of a mine upon an elevating conveyor and wherein this operation takes place continuouslyl during the operation of the machine, an lthe coal deposited upon the elevator conveyor in a continuous uninterrupted stream regardless of the relative size of the coal lumps handled thereby.

'lhe invention further consists in the provision of a loading machine which includes an inclined elevating conveyor mountedv up-V y /c on a portable base' and in the provision of a pair of endless gatherin' belts or chains at the forward lower en of the conveyor, which belts or chains are provided with laterally extending iiights or arms, disposed to circulate in corresponding horizontal planes, and'wherein the arrangement is such that the arms or ightsare forced into engagementlwith the coal vto be gathered by their continuousl circulating action, remove the coal from the door and deposit the same upon the receiving end of the elevating conveyor by which the coal is conveyed to a suitable point of discharge.

For a complete understanding of theinf` vention,- reference is to be had to the iollowing description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a loadin machine constructed in accordance wit the a5 present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figure 3 is a plan View, partly in section, ofthe portable base uponwhich the con`- veyors of the machine are mounted. Figure l is a vertical sectional view taken through the portable base and the conveyors arranged thereon.

Figure 5 is a ering chains. Figure 6 is a vertical section on the plane indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view on the line 7 7 of Figure 1. v

Referring more particularly l`to the details of the invention, as such Vdetails are set forth in the speciic embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 'llhe numeral 1 designates a portable base upon which the loading machine is mounted for transportation. ln the present linstance the base is of the endless beltitypae,

although the base may be mounted, if desired, upon wheels for transportation over a track way. ln the present instance the base consists oi.i a rectangular frame 2, disclosed more particularly in Figures 3 and 4. The sides ot the trame 2 are provided with replan view of one of the gathcesses 4for the retention of spring supported vjournal boxes 3, in which is mounted Va transverse axle d, carrylng at its outer ends sprockets 5, disposed to engage with the chains 6 of a air of endless traction belts 7.

Mounted within the frame 2 is an operating motor 8, preferably of a reversible electric type, whose armature shaft 9 at one end is equipped with a worm 10, dis osed to mesh with a' worm gear 11 of a di erential mechanism. This mechanism is of the usual type and provides a plurality of pinions l2 inthel .forward part 'of the frame 2 and carry upon their outer ends drivenl sprockets t19, .which enga-ge withthe chain 6 to impart motion to the belt 7. Formed with the gears 13 are brake drums 20, around which pass brake bandsy 21.. Ubviously,

by any suitable manipulating devices, not

ldd

lll@

' of the base 1.

y veyor.

ing movement to right or left.

Arising from the frame 2 and rigidly associated therewith is a stationary sup;

.plemental framework 22, upon which is mounted the upper stationary section 23 and an elevating conveyorl structure 24. This structure comprises a frame or trough of structural sheet metal and includes a bottom 25 and trough forming sides`26, a drive shaft 27 being located at the rear end of the section 23. This drive shaft is formed with a pair of sprocketsl 28 around which pass spaced endless chains 29 of a drag con- A motor 30 is mounted upon'one of the sides 26 and throughl suitable speed reduction gearing, located in the casing 31, power is imparted at proper conveying speeds to the chains 29.

Pivoted to the forward en d of the sta# tionary section and the conveyor' structure, as indicated by the numeral 32, is a vertically movable inclined adjustable sectiony 33, of the elevating conveyor. This section extends angularly and downwardly and has its forward receiving end located in advance At the extreme forward end of the adjustable section 33 there is provided a foot shaft 34upon which sprockets 35 are mounted, and around which the drive chains 29 are trained. The chains/29 are connected by transverse Hights 36, which are adapted to pass over the bottoms 25 of the conveyor structur 24, so that coal deposited thereon will be advanced in the line of draft ofthe machine. llVhen the motor 30 is running movement is imparted through the chains 29 to this shaft 34, and the power thus applied to this shaft is employed in operating the gathering mechanism of the machine.

My improved gathering mechanism consists in the provision of a pair of rigidly mounted parallel conveying belts 37, which are mounted upon the forward depressed end 38 of the conveyor-structure 34 and so disposed that the belts will be situated to extend parallel and longitudinal with and some distance in advance of the conveying chains 29 and flights 36 and to each side whereof, as shown more particularly in Figure f1; These belts are located on a wide flaring apron 39 formed with the adjustable section 33 of the elevator conveyor. Specifically the gathering mechanism confprises a pair of drive sprockets 40,'keyed -upon the shafts 41,` which extend perpendicularly to the elevator conveyor. Theseshafts are mounted for rotation within stationary bearings 42, and have fixed thereon worm meeste gears 43, which mesh with right and left hand worms 44 provided ugpn/theends of the driven foot shaft 342 his power arrangement results in causing the gathering belts to move as indicated by the arrbws in Figure l, so that coal lying ,in the path of the machine will be directed inwardly and centrally upon the machine and discharged upon the elevator. Further, the worm gearing enables the gathering belts to be driven at a lower rate of speed than the elevator,r

conveyor, for reasons hereinafter specified.

Passing around the sprockets 40 is a strongly constructed chain 45, capable of standing high tensile strains and maintaining its pitch relation to the teeth of the drive sprocket 40. These belts or chains 45 include a plurality of link sections 46, which Hexibly unite a plurality of anchor members 47, which carry rollers 48 and circulate in continuous guides 49 fixed upon the apron 39.` The link sections 46 permit the gathering belts to flex in both-horizontal and vertical planes, thus adapting the belts to passage around the drive sprockets 40, the for wardly located guide sprockets 50 and to adapt the belts to the vertical curvature or formation "of the apron 39. To the anchor members 47 there ,is connected a plurality of flights 51, whichiproject laterally from the gathering belts and are so disposed that the going and return runs thereof move in corresponding horizontal planes. The guide sprockets 50 are mounted in longitudinally adjustable bearings 51, which may be adjusted from time to time to compensate v for strain or wear in the gathering belts.

` Tn operation the machine, by reason of its tractor base, is driven forwardly into the coal pile to be gathered. The motor 30 is then energizedimparting motion simultane? ,thetrough 52 formed between the adjacent guides 49 of the belts. It should be noted in this connection that the gathering belts operate continuouslyl together and advance the coal into and along the'machine. In many machines of the prior art shovels, scoops and fingers moving in non-circular paths are provided which do` not operate continuously uponthe coal in carryingout the gathering operation, but operate on the intermittent principle. In the present invention' the gathering belts are constantly attacking'. the coal pile, so that the coal 'is `Moenia 3 moved in a continuous stream by a pair of belts through the trough 56 upon the wide drag conveyorof the elevator which carries the coal away toa suitable point of deposit., Further, the elongatedconstruction. of the gathering belts is of, importance in that it is desirable in order to e'ect a proper'v transference of the coal from the gatherers upon the elevators. For this reason the gathering belts mwove at alslower rate of speed than the elevator conveyor and ithe lower end of the elevator conveyor is'terminated at a position in advance of the drive sprockets 40,

see Figure 1. rl`hese features enable the coal passing through the trough 52 to bedeposited upon the elevator conveyor vbefore the flights 51 begin their arcuate vpath of travel around the sprockets 40. rlhis enables the coal to be removed from the influence of the flights while the latter are yet traveling parallel with the elevator conveyor, so that the distance above the floor.

flights 51, when passing arcuately around the drive sprockets d() will not push or cause the coal to beremoved from the conveying in' fluence of the conveyor elevator.

lin transporting the machine around the mine it is necessary to elevate the adjustable section 83 slightly so that the forward depressed end 38 thereof will be located some A convenient method of accomplishing this consists in providing the machine with a pair of hell crank levers 58 which are pivoted as at 5d upon the forward part of the frame 2. rllhe shorter arms of these levers are provided with rollers 55, which engage with the bottom ofthe-'section 88. The longer of theI arms are connected with cables 56, which have their inner ends trained around and secured to drums 57, loosely mounted upon the forward axles 18. 4'lfhese drums are provided with clutch jaws designed to loe engaged vwith correspondingly shaped jaws provided upon sliding sleeves 58, which are keyed to the axles 18. By engaging the sleeves 58 with the drums 57 through the clutch jaws, rotary motion maybe imparted to the drums 57, causing the cables 56 thereon to be wound or unwound, thereby raising or lowering, at the will of the operator, the adjustable section 38 of the forwardl conveyor structure. Any suitable .appliances may be' provided for retaining the conveyor structure in its elevated position; 'lin this connection ll have disclosed pivoted pawls 59, which, engage with ratchet teeth 6U provided on the drums 57 v v ln order to deliverl coal to a mine car situated behind the machine, there is provided an adjustable deliveryconveyor 61. This conveyor consists of a frame 62 shaped at its forward endl to provide a howl or receiver 63 which is located immediately beneath the discharge endpf the elevator conveyor, and is adapted to receivecoal discharged from such conveyor. Corresponding to the elevator conveyor the delivery conveyorL is provided with 'spaced longitudinallyfextend'ing chains 64 passing over, sprockets provided upon shafts 65 at the forward and rear ends 7o ofthe frame 62, and the chains64t connected by transverse flights 66, which move overf the floor 67 of the frame 62. rllhe discharge end of the' delivery conveyor may be of any desired height to adapt- -the machine to the height of themine car used in 'connection therewith. To impart motion to this con-I veyor there is provided a motor 68 which, through suitable motion transmitting devices 69, rotates the foot sha-ft 65. flowever, it will be understood that power may be applied either to the forward or rearward of the shaft 65. N i

rlyhe delivery -conveyor is mounted upon a, l, swinging bed plate 70, which is pivoted as at 71 upon the frame 2 for swinging moveyment in a horizontal plane. The rear .or free end of the bed plate rests upon rollers 72, and the elevatedy discharge portion of the conveyor 61 is supported hy means of arxpair `of adjustable jacks 73 which, y.hy reason of their telescoping action permit the delivery conveyor as a whole to swing in a vertical plane about the horizontal axis defined hy its foot shaft 65. 'lo turn the delivery conveyor in a horizontal plane, themotor 8 has its armature shaft 9 provided at the end opposite to the worm c1() with a pinion 7d, which meshes rvwith' a `gear 75 loosely pro-vided upon a 100 shaft 76. The hub of the gear 75 is provided with clutch jaws designed to loe engaged with .similar jaws yprovided .upon a sleeve 77, which is keyed to the shaft 76. By engaging the sleeve 77 with the gear 75 mo tion may he imparted at will to the shaft 76, the direction of rotation of said shaft isy of course governed hy controlling the direc` tion lof rotation of the armature shaft. The upper end of the shaft 76 is provided with a spur Igear 7 8,'which meshes with the teeth of a segment rack 79 provided upon the forward edge of thebed plate 70.

ln view of the foregoing description, tal;- en in connection with the accompanying sheets ofr drawings, it will he seen that there is provided a strongly constructed, easilyyoperated high capacity machine for service in underground vcoal mines. 'The construe'- tion of the machine' is such that it is readily adapted to any recognized method of mining coal, and may he used with equal facility' -when coal is mined from the so-called long wall method as well as the t room and pillar method. The machineattacks the coalat ythe hase and outer edge ofthe pile and is foiced forwardly luy its tractor hase ascthe coal is conveyedaway. By the operation of the differential drive mechanism the m-achine may he moved rom right to left.

Aso

so as to attack the pile from the most advantageous position, and this can be more readily accomplished by reason of the tractor base than when a track mounted machine is employed and adapts the machine more readily to advance workins where track cannot readily be placed; iurther, by providing the tractor base the necessity of swinging thegathering conveyor in a horizontal plane is avoided, although it will be understood that the inventionY is not limited in its scope to a tractor' base machine, but

' may beemployed upon an ordinary wheeled April 18, 1922, the side Varm type of gathering conveyor is vnot only employed for vremoving the coal vfrom the floor but also o'r elevating and conducting the coal .rearwardly and longitudinally of the machine or over halt of its length. As an elevator the side arm type does not possess the carrying capacity of the drag conveyor and because of thelpeculiar construction of its chain or belt, upo1rwl1-ichn its flights are K mounted, the construction is iheavy, costly,

and requireslconsiderable power to operate. lin the present instance li have limited the gathering conveyor ofthe sideV arm type solely to its duty as a gathering agent and is not-,utilized in any essential sense as' a conveyor, this work being entirely done by the drag conveyors Moreover, ll have further improved the machine by providing two conveying belts of the side arm type in contrast to the single belt of this type dis- ;closed inmy laforesaid patent and by this means have produced a machine by which arf/taaie the capacity of a loading machine over known prior types is materially increased.

What is claimed is:

l'. In a loading machine, an elongated inclined frame having its lower forward end broadened out laterally in opposite direc# tions to provide a substantially horizontal surface engaging portion, a pair oi gathering belts mounted upon the broadened end, and yan elevating conveyor mounted upon said frame with its lower end positioned in line with the spacebetween the gathering belts. A

2. lin a loading machine, an elongated inclined frame having a bed plate, the forward end of the bed plat-e vextendingbeyond the lowerend ot the frame and broadened out laterally in opposite directions with respect to the remaining ortion ot the plate to provide a substantially horizontal surface engaging portion, an elevating conveyor mounted on the frame over the narrower portion of the bed plate, and gathering means positioned on the broadened portion of the plate to gather the material and force it up the plate in line with the longitudinal axis of the elevating conveyor.

3. ln a loading machine,'an elongated inclined frame having a bed plate, the forward end of the bed plate extending beyond the lower end of the frame and broadened y'out laterally in opposite directions with respect to the remaining portion of the plate toprovide a substantially horizontal surface vengaging portion,l an elevating i-conveyor mounted onV the frame over the narrower portion Jof the bed plate', gathering means posltioned on the broadened portion oit' the plate to gather the material and :torce it up the plate in line with the longitudinal axis of the elevating conveyor, and raised marginal portions on the brpadened portion of the plate to prevent any scattering material being thrown in advance of the gathering reg1on. i

lin testimony whereof, name' to, this specification.

Neuron A. Niiwnicit.

l have signed my 

